Conversations in the Great Hall
by Sylindara
Summary: It is the first time Hogwarts has allowed first years on the Quidditch team since Harry Potter; but the originator of the idea, Captain Imayoshi of the Slytherin Quidditch team, is the only one to not add any first years to his team. Chaos, quite naturally, erupts. Written for the challenge Ensemble on basketballpoetsociety Tumblr.


Everyone has their own Hogwarts AU, this is mine. Charts of all the characters and their houses and positions are posted on my tumblr (chippokenabokura), so it'll be a little easier to understand. This takes place in an alternative future of the books in which Hogwarts is now overrun with Japanese people, or something. IDK

* * *

The Hogwarts dining hall is traditionally a raucous and disorderly venue every meal time; as expected of the one place where all, or at least most, of the teenage student body will be sure to gather at the same time. Today, however, is especially noisy as all four Quidditch teams meet at their respective tables and pump their captains for news.

Gryffindor – already considered the most unruly part of Hogwarts by some – is filled with the wails of Captain Okamura as his teammates try to work out what he's saying.

"Well?" Hayama asks impatiently, "What did they say?"

"He-he-" Okamura blubbers. "I thought we'd come to an agreement!"

"Look, I think we all got the point that Slytherin backed out and left us in the lurch." Hyuuga sighs. "But did they agree?"

"Yeah," Kagami chimes in, "are we on the team or not?" He waves a hand at himself, Akashi, and Haizaki – the only first years in the huddle.

"Come on," Fukui barks, slapping Okamura harshly on the back. "Stop crying and answer the question."

"They said yes," Okamura finally gets out, though he still looks like he's about to cry any second. "I don't understand, I thought he was all for it."

"There are Slytherins you can trust to keep their word, Imayoshi ain't one of them," Nebuya shrugs carelessly. Now that his position's been officially given to a first year, Nebuya stops paying attention to the commotion and pokes sadly at his still empty plate. Hayama, who has also lost his Chaser position – to Akashi, sighs and pats him on the back consolingly.

Sitting beside Kagami, Kise manages to hear the whole thing and immediately turns and says, "Congratulations, Kagamicchi, Akashicchi!"

"Wait, -cchi? Really?" Kagami remarks, eyebrows springing up in surprise.

"It's a nickname!" Kise sparkles at him. "For people I really admire. And what's more worthy of admiration than being the first Gryffindor first years since Harry Potter to get on the Quidditch team?"

Akashi looks at him. "We are not the only first years to receive this chance; even if Slytherin backed out, there are still Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff. And in any case, it was the expected result," he says.

"Uh, anyway, thanks," Kagami says awkwardly. "You sure you don't want to try out? Quidditch is really fun."

"No, thank you." Kise shakes his head. "This kind of thing isn't fun for me. You're just flying around with a bunch of balls after all."

"JUST FLYING AROUND WITH A BUNCH OF BALLS?" Wakamatsu shouts, looming over the three first years. "QUIDDITCH IS THE TRADITIONAL SPORT OF THE WIZARDING WORLD! IT HAS A LONGER AND PROUDER HISTORY THAN YOU CAN EVER IMAGINE! HOW DARE YOU REDUCE IT FLYING AROUND WITH BALLS!"

"You te(ll) them, Wakamatsu!" Hayakawa cheers from the other side of the table.

"Hey, calm down, I'm sure they didn't mean it." Koganei prudently puts an arm between Wakamatsu and the other three. "They're just first years, no need to get so upset at them."

"Yeah, what's your damage?" Haizaki snorts, finally looking over instead of pretending to ignore them. "You sure are talking big when you're not even on the team."

"Just because _you_ got on," Hayakawa splutters, too angry to speak.

"What, jealous that I took your spot?" Haizaki sneers.

Akashi narrows his eyes and opens his mouth, but Ogiwara gets there before him.

"Stop that, Haizaki," Ogiwara scolds him, cuffing the back of Haizaki's head. "What if a professor comes along?"

"Too late," Professor Garcia, head of Gryffindor House, tells them all ominously. "Ten points from Gryffindor for causing a scene. All of you calm down and shut up. The Headmaster will officially announce the decision soon enough, until then you lot keep your traps shut."

Everyone looks away guiltily and even Okamura stops crying. Fukui, who had been slapping him on the back in a warped way of cheering him up, snatches his hand away and rubs it gingerly against his robe.

"Oh yeah," Professor Garcia says just before she turns away, "another five points from Gryffindor for being right here and not doing anything, _Prefect_ Mayuzumi. What do you think we gave you that Prefect badge for?"

"_I_ don't know," Mayuzumi mutters sulkily at her back. "Why would you even give me the Prefect badge in the first place?"

"It is kind of scary to think that Mayuzumi is the most appropriate for the Prefect badge in his year," Koganei says quietly to Hyuuga.

"That guy just looks responsible, because no one can see him actually doing anything. It's useful for a Seeker, but not much else." Fukui scowls at the empty space where Mayuzumi used to be. "How does he do that?"

* * *

At the table nearest to Gryffindor, the Ravenclaw Quidditch team has also been discussing the upcoming announcement. Although much more sedately.

"Did Gryffindor just lose ten points?" Moriyama asks incredulously, attention taken up by the magic swirling around the giant hourglasses at one end of the hall. "What are they doing over there?"

"Fifteen," Izuki notes distractedly, before going back to scribbling in his pun notebook.

Susa sighs. "Probably because Okamura is, just like the stereotype, way too stuck on the fact that Imayoshi didn't bring forward any first year players for consideration."

"So Imayoshi really didn't support it officially then." Izuki looks up from his notebook. "Even though he was the one to propose letting first years on the team originally to the three of you."

"Imayoshi is always up to something," Susa says resignedly. "But whatever the case, he didn't oppose it and the proposal was accepted." He turns to the three first years sitting opposite him. "Which means you three are now officially part of the Ravenclaw Quidditch team, congratulations!"

"Alright!" Aomine shouts, pumping his fist excitedly in the air.

"Ehhhhhhh," Murasakibara says from beside him, showing the exact opposite reaction to the news.

"They're going with the same team they had last year then?" Kobori suddenly asks.

"Yup." Susa nods at him. "This is Slytherin, so we can't expect them to not have new tricks up their sleeves. But at least those sleeves will be on the same people we faced last year. It's the other two teams we need more information on. I don't know how Imayoshi knew, but just like he said there are other first year players besides the Generation of Miracles. Though of course we all thought he was talking about a Slytherin player at the time."

"You mean that big first year in Gryffindor," Izuki points out. "I've never heard of him before. He certainly wasn't in the Quidditch Junior Leagues. Do any of you know him?"

"'Fraid not." Aomine shakes his head.

"Dunno who this Kagami Taiga is," Murasakibara agrees lazily.

"We can help when it comes to strategy for dealing with the others though. We know how they play when we've all played together so much," says Momoi earnestly. "But is that really okay? For us first years to be playing and taking over your positions?"

Both Mitobe and Kobori smile at her reassuring. Mitobe gives her a thumbs up while Kobori says, "Don't worry about it, Momoi; we've seen your strength at the trials. Neither Mitobe nor I have any regrets giving you first years these positions, so none of you should either. Especially you, since the Seeker position needed to be filled anyway. It doesn't matter if you used to be a Chaser, you are the best for the post, beyond a doubt."

Momoi blushes at that and looks down. "Thank you-"

"I'm sorry!" Sakurai screeches suddenly. "I'm really sorry that your position was taken. I'm really sorry that I'm useless as anything other than Chaser."

"There, there, Sakurai," Susa pats at him soothingly. "No need to go into hysterics. No one's going to take your position from you."

"I'm sorry!" Sakurai says even louder. "I'm sorry I won't give up my position!"

"No really, be quiet," Izuki warns. "Professor Harasawa is looking this way."

At the mention of the Head of Ravenclaw house, the entire group stops talking and looks down at their empty plates.

"Still," Moriyama says quietly, "you have to wonder what Imayoshi is thinking. What is he up to?"

Susa simply shakes his head.

* * *

"…and so, the two of you are now on the team despite being first years," Kasamatsu tells Kuroko and Midorima firmly. "Be thankful for the chance."

"I will have you know I have done all that is humanly possible," Midorima sniffs. "This is the foreordained result."

"WHY YOU LITTLE BRAT-" Miyaji starts to say, held back by Kimura and Nakamura's hands on his shoulders.

"Calm down, Miyaji, they'll buckle down once practice starts," Ootsubo tells him, before turning back to the first years. "We do expect you to respect your elders, however. You should be thinking of how you can work well with the rest of this team, not just what you do for yourself."

"I'll warn you now," says Kasamatsu. "If you can't work well with the rest of the team, I will not hesitate to give your position back to Tsuchida, Midorima."

"What-" Midorima starts to say, though he quiets down when Kuroko puts a firm hand on his wrist.

"You are the much better player, Midorima, we won't deny that," Kimura says, giving Tsuchida an apologetic look, "but Quidditch is a team sport. And if you can't work with the team, you will become a hindrance."

"Even if Slytherin is still going with their old team despite all that rot Imayoshi said about promising first years besides you Generation of Miracles lot, this year will be a long and messy battle for the Cup with all these first years playing," Miyaji says bluntly. "Get over yourselves or I'll trample you."

"I will do all that is humanly possible," is all Midorima says. "Everything."

"What Midorima means is that of course we will do our best for the team," Kuroko says diplomatically, the hand on Midorima's wrist digging into his flesh.

"See that you do," Kasamatsu says. "Practice starts tomorrow – I've already talked to Groundskeeper Aida and we have the field first. We'll be having our first strategy meeting then too. Be prepared."

Now that the seniors have turned away, Furihata, Fukuda, and Kawahara crowd around Kuroko to give their congratulations.

"That's amazing!" Furihata gushes. "You're the first first year in Hufflepuff to get on the team! And, uh, Midorima too."

"Yeah, congratulations, Midorima," Fukuda says weakly.

"Congratulations, both of you," Kawahara tells Kuroko with a big grin.

"Man proposes and God disposes," Midorima says. He eyes them haughtily. "As long as one does all that is humanly possible, then such results is only to be expected."

"You know," Furihata says with a frown, "I don't think that attitude is very good. You should be more grateful for the chance. You'll keep getting in trouble with the seniors if you act like that."

"Perhaps you should be more concerned with yourself instead of meddling in other people's business," Midorima snaps. "I will have you know that you would not have made such a miserable showing at the trials if you had actually done all that is humanly possible."

"Hey!" Fukuda and Kawahara both say angrily.

"_Midorima_," Kuroko hisses, showing the most emotion they have seen all day.

"Don't fight, you don't want Professor Nakatani to come over here," Tsuchida tells them, pointing at the Head of Hufflepuff House – who is indeed looking in their direction with a frown on his face, along with Professor Takeuchi. "And Ootsubo is sitting right there too, you want him to catch you fighting even less. He _is_ a Prefect, you know."

The first years all quiet down and Kuroko finally lifts his hand from Midorima's wrist. "We will be more careful," he tells Tsuchida.

"Just don't get into trouble. Us Hufflepuffs are counting on you guys," Tsuchida says with a smile. "And you three too. Even if you're not on the Quidditch team, as a House we are all counting on each other. For the Quidditch Cup, for the House Cup, even just for making this a good year for everyone."

Midorima turns away at that, Fukuda and Kawahara blushes, while Furihata squeaks and spills his pumpkin juice.

* * *

"Look, Hufflepuff has broken out the buddy-buddy speeches," Hara laughs, sitting at the end of the Slytherin table. "I win the bet, Seto. I told you they'd have started being all overfamiliar before dinner even starts."

"Whatever." Seto shrugs his shoulders lazily. "Who cares about Hufflepuff? What I want to know is what Imayoshi is up to."

"All the other Houses are letting first years join the team this year," Furuhashi mentions, narrowing his eyes at the Quidditch team sitting all the way at the other end of the Slytherin table. "But not Imayoshi. Sure, we didn't get one of those Generation of Miracles this year, but Gryffindor came out with three first years even though they only got two of them."

"You'd think he'd at least switch out Himuro for Takao even if he doesn't go after any Slytherin first years," says Yamazaki. "Takao's young and inexperienced, but I've never seen him not hanging around Imayoshi, he's gotta have licked his ass enough to get a position by this point."

"You might as well ask why he didn't put Hanamiya on the team," snorts Hara. "Hanamiya is ten times the Chaser that Himuro is."

As one, all four of them turn to look at Hanamiya, who has been staring at Imayoshi the whole time with a brooding look on his face.

"It makes him look good," Hanamiya snorts without looking at the others. "This way, he's the only one not making unreasonable demands. But there's no way he isn't the one behind this scheme; this isn't something Okamura, Susa, or Kasamatsu would have come up with."

As if feeling the weight of his gaze, Imayoshi looks up from the notebook Riko is showing him and gives Hanamiya a jaunty wave.

Riko looks up too when she realises that Imayoshi's attention has been captured elsewhere, just in time to see Hanamiya turn away with a scowl.

"Do you think he knows?" she asks curiously.

"Hanamiya?" Mibuchi interjects. "He'd be looking a lot worse if he actually realises what we're doing. Don't worry about it."

"And let's try to keep it this way for as long as we can, shall we?" Nijimura says drily. "It'd be too much trouble dealing with that guy if he actively tries to incapacitate us."

"You mean he wasn't trying to actively incapacitate us up to now?" Takao says in surprise.

"Oh no," Himuro says with a soft smile. "You would know if Hanamiya was actively gunning for you. We're still safe for now."

"We have what, a year?" Riko says without much confidence. "He's not stupid, he'll definitely realise when we give you the Chaser position after Captain Imayoshi graduates. That's when you really need to keep your guard up."

"Yes ma'am!" Takao says nervously, one hand coming up in a salute.

"It'll be okay. You'll have all of us here to help support you when the time comes," Kiyoshi tells him reassuringly. He turns and pokes Liu with an elbow. "Right?"

Liu rolls his eyes at him, and digs his elbow in Kiyoshi's side in return. "Yeah, yeah."

"There's nothing to worry about," Imayoshi drawls. "We've been doing this for years now. We'll be prepared for anything he throws at us. Well, I say we, but the real battle will be next year. So good luck with everything after I graduate, Captain Nijimura."

"Don't call me that yet." Nijimura scowls at him. "You're going to jinx me or something."

"We're already jinxed," Mibuchi moans. "Seven people in that miraculous Junior League team, and not a single one in Slytherin."

The team sigh as one.

"Well, it's what we were expecting really," Kiyoshi points out with a shrug.

"I had my hopes on Akashi at least," Nijimura admits. "But it was always a longshot."

"You're the one who knows them best, we trust your judgement." Riko shakes her head. "But what a waste."

"Yeah," Takao agrees longingly, staring at Hufflepuff table.

"Still has that obsession with Midorima?" Himuro asks him wryly.

"And the same question back to you," Takao replies. "You'll understand when you see him play."

"I was right about Taiga making the team, wasn't I?" says Himuro. "You will understand as well when you see _him_ play."

"Let's not wait until they actual play," Imayoshi scolds them both. "First strategy meeting starts tomorrow. Bring everything you know about their Quidditch styles."

"Got it." Himuro nods at him.

"In the meantime," Kiyoshi reminds them, "we can't lower our guard for a second against Hanamiya."

"At least the Head of the House is on our side," Riko points out. "I've seen the way Professor Araki looks at them; Professor Shirogane as well."

"Just remember, there're only a few more years left." Mibuchi sighs wistfully.

"And we have a bigger pool of prospective players to choose from now," adds Himuro.

"Don't worry, Imayoshi," Nijimura says seriously. "Leave it to us. We'll make sure that Hanamiya and his cronies _never_ get on the Quidditch team."

* * *

The Generation of Miracles in this AU is: Kuroko as Seeker, Murasakibara as Keeper, Haizaki and Aomine as Beaters, and Midorima, Momoi, and Akashi as Chasers in the fictitious Quidditch Junior League that occurs among Wizarding folk before school age. Kise is a muggleborn and doesn't understand anything. Both Himuro and Kagami are also muggleborns, but they have the good luck of living near Alex who took them under her wing when she realised they had magic.


End file.
